


Just Some String of Incompletes

by PornyZiallFeels



Series: When Autumn Comes, It Doesn't ask [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Implied Larry, M/M, Possible future Lirry?, Prequel, Soccer AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 04:52:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PornyZiallFeels/pseuds/PornyZiallFeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn yawned loudly, as Liam moved to switch to the final dvd, Niall Horan’s. He had taken to doodling on a nearby McDonald’s receipt off Higgin’s desk sometime between Simpson and Lautner’s tapes out of boredom. He glances up disinterestedly as the last tape begins to play and all at once he is sitting up straighter, doodle forgotten as a fit boy of medium height with blonde hair and dancing blue eyes fills the screen smiling directing into the camera. His eyebrows furrow seconds later, frowning he moves to tap at the screen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Some String of Incompletes

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally got around to writing the prequel to When Autumn Comes, It Doesn't Ask :)

Coach Higgins eyed the five boys sternly as they filed into his office one by one and took a seat. Well Zayn and Liam filed in one by one, Harry had whizzed into the room with a cackling Louis on his back, the curly topped boy dropping his passenger down onto the nearest empty chair before plopping into the last remaining open one himself.

The two continued to tease one another with playful swipes to the head and a failed attempt at a wet willy on Harry’s part while Liam sat biting his lip nervously and Zayn rolled his eyes bored, both wondering what kind of shenanigans Larry Stylinson had gotten up to this time to land them in the coaches office and how the two of them had somehow been implemented in it.

_“Boys!”_ Paul bellowed, having seen quite enough of Louis and Harry’s antics. The two boys ceased their playful flirting because really there was no other way to describe it—they were worse than a ten year old boy dipping the girl he likes’ pigtail in ink. The two sat up straight in their seats giving the Irishman their full attention. Zayn didn’t bother to hide his smirk but Liam still looked about ready to hurl his breakfast onto his converse.

“Oi, I called you lads in here because as you well know we’re going to be down a man next year with Grimshaw _finally_ graduating so an opening for our defensive midfielder has opened up and I was thinking we could offer a freshman a scholarship because let’s face it none of the boys on second string are going to cut it just yet.” Liam shook his head slightly, thinking about poor Bieber and how he would probably never clock any field time.

“So that brings me to why I gathered you lot up on this dreary Monday afternoon. For some reason I value you wankers’ opinion so I want you to review a couple of tapes of freshman prospects, I’ve narrowed it down to just three: Simpson, Lautner and Horan.” Coach Higgins, eyed each boy down, making sure they knew just how serious this was, the amount of responsibility he was entrusting them with before handing Liam the dvd cases and leaving them to it. Liam made short work of grabbing the first disk off the pile labeled: _Cody Simpson_ and loading it into the dvd player.

The dvd cuts right into this Simpson kid running scrimmage with his high school team and he’s got decent skills but his tape is rather boring, certainly not exciting enough to hold the attention of Harry and Louis and soon Liam is chastising the two for resuming their play fighting. Thankfully the dvd ends by then and he gets up to switch to the next disk, this one labeled: _Taylor Lautner_ his tape is pretty much the same all clips of games and scrimmages and the odd skills drill, but again he was rather lacking for anything spectacular in fact the only one who seemed to be impressed even the slightest was Liam.

“Because he looks like something out of soccer weekly magazine.” He admitted, blushing and earning twin glares from Larry Stylinson that made absolutely no sense and prompting Harry to grunt out:

“Does he even own a shirt?”

Zayn yawned loudly, as Liam moved to switch to the final dvd, _Niall Horan’s._ He had taken to doodling on a nearby McDonald’s receipt off Higgin’s desk sometime between Simpson and Lautner’s tapes out of boredom. He glances up disinterestedly as the last tape begins to play and all at once he is sitting up straighter, doodle forgotten as a fit boy of medium height with blonde hair and dancing blue eyes fills the screen smiling directing into the camera. His eyebrows furrow seconds later, frowning he moves to tap at the screen.

“Is it rolling yet Sean? Does the red light there mean stop or go?” Louis can’t help but chuckle loudly at that.

“It’s recording yeah?” Niall asked the cameraman again, whose grip was wobbly at best. Niall’s frown deepened and Zayn had the sense that that didn’t happen very often.

“Man, Cullen this is the real deal I’m sending this out to scouts so quit farting around!” Harry and even Liam have to join Louis in his laughter at this, but all Zayn could do was stare because holy shit Niall was hot!

“Alright, well ‘ello, my name’s Niall Horan I’m 17 and I play defensive midfielder for the Hudsonville Huskies and I think you should recruit me because, uh…” He trailed off and seemed to look to ‘Sean’ for an answer chewing on his lip.

“Hate talking myself up.” He grumbled just loud enough for the camera to pick up and shrugged. “Suppose I’ll just let my feet do the talking for me then?” He finished, brightening up once more.

“That’s right Niall, show ‘em yer swag.” Niall leveled a glare at Sean and mimed zipping his lips. The footage then cut to Niall during what had to have been a scrimmage match due to the fact that half the players wore practice jerseys while the rest of the team sported bright red pinnies.

Horan was definitely the dominant player all fierce eyes and concentration while on the field, but then the tape would cut to him running around the field with a big smile and even bigger laugh as he pantsed one of his team mates (whose jersey might’ve read _Cullen 26_ but the video had cut away too fast to be sure) before running away gleefully. While another clip showed him being responsible for more than half the score of their winning game, before the tape cut to the entire team running drills and there was Niall dressed as the orange ninja turtle, Michelangelo.

Zayn could tell Niall’s dvd was making a good impression on the other boys because it stood out where Simpson and Lautner’s disks had been all matches and technique, Horan’s had all that plus personality, giving them a peek into what kind of person he was, clip after clip he convinced them that he’d be a perfect fit for their rag tag team.

“He’s quite the carefree mofo.” Harry commented suddenly, watching as the blonde got a Gatorade cooler dumped over his head with a beaming grin on his face the entire time.

“Ha! He’s great I could definitely draft him for my prank team.” Louis crowed, slapping a knee as he watched Niall trip a team mate for show excessive show boating after scoring a goal.

“Yeah he’s really good too, he’s got skills…what do you think Li?” Harry asked, turning to the most sensible of them all.

“Uh, he’s definitely got all the right mechanics down, but I think Lautner…” Louis quickly cut him off before he could fawn over the chiseled kid from Brooklyn any further, after all poor Harry was _sitting right there!_ Instead he turned to the quiet brunette curiously.

“Zayn?” All eyes land on him but he couldn’t tear his own away from the tv. He didn’t even realize he was biting his lip until Louis leaned over and tapped it.

“You alright over there Malik?”

“Huh?” He finally blinked and saw that he’d leaned so far forward, inching himself closer and close to the monitor that he barely sat on the edge of his chair.”

“Yay or Nay?” The eldest boy asked with an amused smirk.

“Erm, I’m thinking Zayn is definitely yay for Horan.” Harry joked from behind his hand, to hide his snickers making Zayn blush

 “As am I, I think he’d make a lovely addition to the Bruins.” Louis announced offhandedly.

“Hey, how come Zayn can like Horan but I…” Liam started to protest but was quickly cut off by Louis once again.

“Enough about Lautner Li, he’s out!” Liam crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. It wasn’t fair, Louis had Harry and Zayn had well look at him he could have just about _anyone_ in their university he wanted but the one time _he_ shows genuine interest in someone  Louis and Harry just had to muck it up for him, they’d done the same thing last year with Cher and earlier this year with Danielle. It just didn’t make sense, why didn’t his friends want to see him happy?

“Besides even you have to admit Niall’s the best fit for us…if recruiting him also happens to get Zayn laid then bonus!”

XXX

A couple weeks had passed since they’d watched Niall’s tape and those bright cerulean eyes hadn’t left his mind since, he was lying on his bed, tossing a plush soccer ball up in the air when Liam, his roommate burst through the door arms laden with textbooks and a familiar blue and gold folder that Zayn recognized as a UCLA welcome packet, he also noted that Liam had on his tour guide jacket and raised an eyebrow.

“Didja just give a tour or something?” Liam walked over to his desk and unloaded his arms, answering distractedly:

“Huh, oh no but I have one scheduled for tomorrow with that Horan Kid.” Zayn perked up at this.

“Wait he’s coming tomorrow?” Liam rolled his eyes.

“That’s what I just said Z, really…”

“I supposed you plan to give it then yeah, the tour I mean?” Liam made a puzzled face at this, finally turning to face Zayn.

“Duh, who else would? Tomlinson who doesn’t even know where half the buildings on campus are or there functions—he honestly thought the library was a new café-bookstore hybrids and tried to order an iced latte, not Harry who talks and moves so slow off the field that poor Niall would still be on the tour into next week, or you, you who can’t even get your butt out of bed before noon…”

“I can so!” Zayn argued and Liam blinked astonished eyes at his sudden outburst.

“Really, you do realize he’ll be here at like 7:30 AM right?” Zayn waved him off.

“So, I had a college algebra class around that time last term…”

“That you never went to and nearly flunked!” Zayn scratched the back of his head because; yeah he walked pretty much right into that one.

“Ok, fair enough but I won’t sleep in tomorrow I promise, I’ll set like _five_ alarms.” Liam held his hands out in front of him at Zayn’s eager insistence.

“Whoa, you really like this kid don’t you?”  Zayn scoffed.

“What? No! I don’t even know him I just want to like give him a proper appraisal and I know _you_ , you’d like him even if he said he kicked puppies in his spare time.” Liam sputtered, his arms flailing in indignation.

“I certainly would not, not if he _kicked puppies_.”

“Alright, maybe that was a little extreme but you know what I mean, you’re not the least bit intimidating. I’ll just give him the brush off; give him the old broody asshole routine…”

“So you’ll basically be yourself…” Liam finished, cutting him off.

“Har-har, why aren’t you in stand up again, oh right because you’re complete shit with a joke.” Liam pitched a wounded look but Zayn chose to ignore it.

“If he still sticks around after meeting me at my worst then we’ll know for sure we made the right choice.”

“It’s not like it’ll really matter we already told Higgins he’s our guy so…” Throwing his arms up in exasperation Zayn finally sat up and huffed:

“God damnit Liam, I’ll hitch a ride with Haz to Walmart and get you the special edition _Toy Story 3_ if you’ll just let me give him the tour tomorrow!” Liam blinked wide surprised eyes for a moment before he suddenly smirked:

“On blu ray?” Sighing, Zayn nodded.

“Yes, sure whatever.” Liam finally shrugged.

“It’s a deal.” Slipping out of the tour guide jacket he tossed it onto Zayn’s bed who just eyed the blue windbreaker before shaking his head.

“Yeah, I’m definitely not wearing that though.”


End file.
